This recipe for Health Salad is my own entry in this month’s Community Canning Challenge. We are focusing on ways to preserve brassicas and root vegetables this month. For more information on the challenge, click here. To chat with other participants about what we’ve all made, you can either subscribe to my Substack (all challenge related posts are free) or join us on the Food in Jars community group on Facebook. Now, on to the recipe!
Health salad is essentially a quick pickled sweet and sour cabbage dish and it is one of the foundational dishes of east coast deli culture. You’ll often see it served alongside pickles at the start of a dine-in deli meal, as something to munch on while you decide what to order. I came to love it during the years that we had an outpost of Philly’s Famous Fourth Street Deli on our block.
There are a number of ways to make health salad, but the fixed stars in the recipe’s constellation are cabbage, vinegar, and more sugar than you’d expect for something with the word “health” in the name. I season mine with salt, pepper, and celery seed, and add carrot to accompany the cabbage. Other recipes will sometimes include bell pepper (both green and red), cucumber, and thinly shaved radishes.
Take whatever vegetables you plan on using (this time, I used half a green cabbage and one very large carrot) and either finely slice it with a sharp knife or use the shredding blade on your food processor. I always find myself debating which is more work, hand slicing everything or cleaning the food processor. This time, the food processor felt easier, so that’s how I did it.
Once the veg is ready, prepare the dressing by combining 3/4 cup white vinegar with 1/3 to 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons neutral oil, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon celery seed in a small saucepan. Warm the dressing, stirring as it heats, until the sugar is dissolved. You do not want to boil the dressing or even make it particularly warm. You just want to ensure the sugar melts into the vinegar.
When the dressing is ready, pour it over the veg. Stir to combine and let it sit for awhile. Pack it into a jar and refrigerate it. Provided you use a scrupulously clean jar and you’re careful about using clean utensils when portioning it out, this salad will keep for at least two weeks in the fridge.
Now, let’s talk canning, because I know someone will eventually ask me, “can you can health salad?” Currently, as my recipe is written, you cannot. There aren’t any tested recipes from the National Center for Home Food Preservation or Ball that are easily translated to this application. The closest thing I can find is a recipe for Spiced Red Cabbage in the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. It uses 12 pounds of cabbage and 8 cups of vinegar, but provided one kept the ratios of veg to vinegar, it does seem like a canning safe recipe could be written. If there is interest, I could work on that, but for today we’re making health salad one quart at a time and keeping it in the fridge.
For more about health salad, make sure to read Sonya Sanford’s article on the topic. And if you find you like a fridge pickle like this one, don’t miss this giant bowl of pickles. It’s always a winner.
Health Salad Recipe
Quick pickled sweet and sour cabbage, with carrots
Servings: 1 quart
Ingredients
- 1/2 green cabbage
- 3/4 cup distilled white vinegar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar use less if your carrot is very sweet
- 2 tbsp neutral oil I used sunflower oil
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp celery seed
Instructions
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Shred or slice the cabbage and carrot. You can do this with a sharp knife, on a box grater, or with a food processor. When the veg is ready, scoop it into a large bowl.
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In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar, sugar, oil, salt, pepper, and celery seeds. Whisk over medium heat just until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat.
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Pour the warm dressing over the cabbage (if it was near a boil when you removed it from the stove, let it cool for a couple times). Turn the veg with a pair of tongs, to ensure everything is well combined.
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Let the health salad sit and marinate at room temperature for half an hour or so. Then pack it into a clean quart jar (you may have a little leftover that didn’t fi into the jar. Find an appropriately sized container and proceed) and refrigerate for about a day before eating.
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This health salad will keep for at least two weeks in the refrigerator. Practice good pickle hygiene and make sure to always use clean utensils when removing some from the jar. It’s also a good idea to use a clean paper towel and wipe down the interior of the jar where there’s no more salad. Cleaning off any lingering slips of veg will help extend its life.
